It’s a sultry night in Washington .. and the nation’s capital is basking in the blues.Music – man in suit playing harmonica

It’s party time for these politicians .. but Blues lover Tim Duffy is on a mission.

This fundraiser will earn him $75 000 in one night.Grab Anything I can do to help you manAnd it will help him keep alive the music that is closest to his heart.

It’s a powerful town and it’s great to be here and to be acceptedBy tomorrow Tim and the money -will be on their way home to North Carolina

Leaving Washington’s monuments behind, we travel south on the highways that splice the country - and lead to a very different view of this nation’s past.

America’s history is wrapped up in the blues, a music that tells of a lifetime of struggle but many of its pioneers are living in poverty, their talents little known, their unique sounds disappearing as they pass away. Here in the rural south, one man with a passion for the blues is in a race against time to save not only the music but the aging musicians themselves.

Fedex delivering guitar Hey how you doing, thanks for the box, another guitar man
Inside this country cabin Tim Duffy runs the Music Makers Relief Foundation… Tim unwrapping guitarEpiphone, cool, it’s a great oneToday an unexpected delivery – a brand new guitar.Soundup tim on phoneWhere’s this from? From epiphone we’ll give it to lee gates maybe, we’ll give it to someoneIt’s a generosity driven by the music and the people who make it.
Tim 37.50What’s so compelling about the blues is that the blues is the root, the root of all American music .. 38.38the whole world music has drunk from this well – there’s no one world music that’s not influenced by it
Start music with etta Music15 years ago after studying folklore at college, Tim set out to find the musicians who’d led the way.. like 91 year old etta baker .. still playing the blues she first learnt as a child
32.02 tim I was told by and read there was no blues left, the blues was dead and I realized there were dozens of dozens of great blues artists that no one knew about, hidden in the inner cities and small town communities
He simply wanted to record their music.. and was worried they didn’t have instruments. Then he discovered they barely had food on the table.
On camera Tim 32.43A lot of people were struggling just to pay the light bill, worried about losing their eyesight through glaucoma, just worried about you know living off $4000 a year in modern day America which is tough
OUTSIDE GRABLisa and etta in garden etta in gardenI was under house arrested I call it ..Etta suffers from a failing heart that drains her energy and her bank account .. Etta I couldn’t move from my house for 6 weeks. It was like being tied to the bedpost with handcuffs. It was awful
Outside in garden With the foundation’s help Etta has her medicine .. a new guitar .. and a renewed spirit that keeps her playing.Etta 23.10Do that one you were just talking about. That’s the first blues that my daddy learned in Virginia Sot etta playing7.27 It makes you forget your aches and pains54.39Just the sound of happiness, and it gets on your mind heavier than your ailments do
It’s the poorer parts of towns across the south where Tim seeks out this hidden talent.He is part producer, part musician, .. always it seems social worker.Today he’s checking on Captain Luke and his friends .. Macavine and Whistling Britches.
Captain Luke has a voice of velvet.. honed on the cotton and corn fields of the south.
8.30 lukeyou’re sweating like mad and you just have to do it you know what I mean that’s part of your living and it just come up with a song to stop thinking about all the hard work you’re doingMusic has always been his escape.10.45 lukegreat, my land lord makes you feel great you feel good like you want to shout sometimes lord yeah makes you feel goodAll of the foundation’s artists are over 55.. and earning less than $18,000 a year.
Tim 44.57These are all great artists with a lot to say Some have worked with big name labels .. but have felt ripped off by the recording industry. Grab tim 45.03there are a lot of people who play the blues but these are the crème de la crème of the living southern blues artists that have never been recognised.Others have lacked the courage or know how to get a recording contract.
You wanna go drinking with them
Captain Luke wants us to see where he first met Tim .. a drink house .. where illegal moonshine is the only drink on offer.
Sequence with them pouring moonshine, me trying to drink it etc 20.47when you get that chicken you’re going to start kicking, put hair on your fingernails25.45how do you drink it? Mama 30.04Make you feel good good good
This is where Tim Duffy found many of his musicians .. and discovered how hard it was to win their trust.
Tim in juke joint tp 5 30.55Lot of times they closed the door on my face because they thought I was the man, they thought I was the bust man and the police thought I was a drug dealer/
But he persisted .. and as the nights wore on .. they would start playing and the music would mesmerize.
Up sot macavine playing in juke joint
Ten years later Tim Duffy and his wife Denise are running a million dollar foundation, with support from stars like BB King and Eric Clapton. The foundation produces CDs for its aging artists who keep all the money they make .. some have even scored international gigs.
White guys arriving
And now another generation wants to be a part of the blues history.
Grab Kenny 16.50What we’re trying to do is find some of the guys who never really go the proper recognition that they deserve but are still alive and well and playing the blues and we’re going to record with them
That’s no small offer - Kenny Wayne Sheppard is a LA-based Grammy nominee and a star on the Warner Brothers label.He’s here to play with John Dee Holman, an aging guitarist recovering from a stroke .. who’d never played a professional gig until he was 60.
17.44 kenny wayne sheppardTHIS GRAB HAS BEEN CHANGED .. CAN’T REMEMBER THE WORDS SORRY
Tim herds this motley group into his recording studio .. young and old .. joined by the music.
Up sot them recording What about chapel hill boogie?
His life is a never ending recording session.
Grab tim 10.03.27There’s a real urgency because when these people die their music is gone. These are such highly stylised artists, the music is so deeply personal that no one will come to fill their footsteps.. you just have to grab them when we can and when we earn the trust and get them to record you just have to record it or video it because this is part of America’s cultural treasures.
It’s an urgency the musicians themselves can feel..
George Higgs 43.27It’s some good music you know and I hate to see it die, die when we die. I’d like it to keep on going
But like so many of the artists .. it’s not just the music that connects 74 year old George Higgs to Tim Duffy.Soundup of george singing“there are two sides to every story” The Foundation was there with a new guitar and an emergency grant when his home was flooded and helped pay for the funeral of his murdered grandson.
Overlay george’s voice with him playing and singing 51.50 Inside recording studio with georgeGeorge has driven for hours to record for Tim.tim - Tap that mic, do that one again man Grab george 28.03We never thought this would be discovered you know just like I said for fun, we didn’t know we could get no money out of it, make us known we’re really having fun now chance for travel meeting new people really brightened up our lives
Many of these musicians are simply looking for recognition, happy that their life’s passion has ignited a spark in someone else.
Tim 43.28 tp 1 Here is what I have. I will keep your name alive. I feel like I’ve honoured my promise to a lot of these artists. That’s what every great artist wants. They don’t want to be forgotten about. Their gift is a gift to the world
Tim and george ending the recording session, then walking out of studio, door bangs behind, leaves old guitar leaning on chair. Tim talking to george 58.21Just do about 7 more and we’ll have a record